Manhattan Man Jose Pimentel Arrested on Terrorism-Related Charges

Jose Pimentel was arraigned at Manhattan Criminal Court, Sunday, Nov. 20, in New York. Pimentel, an "al-Qaida sympathizer" accused of plotting to bomb police and post offices in New York City as well as U.S. troops returning home, was charged with criminal possession of explosive devices with the intent to use in a terrorist manner. AP/Jefferson Siegel.

A Manhattan man, Jose Pimentel, was arrested Saturday on charges that he plotted to construct and detonate pipe bombs in New York City. Pimentel, who was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in the Bronx, was obsessed with the teaching of the deceased American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, and allegedly planned to attack American troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, officials said in an announcement on Sunday.

The NYPD had been monitoring Pimentel for two years, according to Kelly, and police made the arrest after the suspect allegedly showed a police informant the parts to build three pipe bombs. Kelly said Pimentel was just an hour away from assembling the bombs.

Following Pimentel’s arrest, Republican Congressman Peter King said there is a “growing difference in philosophy” between the FBI and the NYPD, and that it was “not a good sign the FBI wasn’t there” at the press conference, reported Capital New York.

Regardless of the timing, the arrest supplied a needed publicity boost for the NYPD and Bloomberg, who have criticized by politicians and New York City residents for their management of several police scandals, including:

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